Who needs Gatsby when you have James Dean?
by mrsariadilaurentis
Summary: Jason is back in town and aboard the A-Train. He has some business to take care of. Mostly dealing with a beautiful brunette whom he had messed things up with before. Will Aria give him another chance?
1. Chapter 1

_"For a moment the last sunshine fell with romantic affection upon her glowing face; her voice compelled me forward breathlessly as I listened then the glow faded, each light deserting her with lingering regret, like children leaving a pleasant street at dusk." F. Scott Fitzgerald "The Great Gatsby"_

* * *

In a town like Rosewood, it's pretty easy to get used to the stares, especially when you are the brother of a popular or not-so-popular murder victim. Many of the stares are accusing and cruel, while others are simply curious. They wonder about my motives for coming back to town. I often wonder about them myself. Of course I want answers, revenge. But that isn't all that I want. I've left many old relationships behind as well as a newly developing relationship with Spencer. She needs my help. But there is someone else who needs me too, I hope.

As I entered through the clouds of artificial smoke, loud music, and crowds of people ready to board the Halloween train, I searched the crowd for a familiar face. I see her immediately. She looks just as beautiful as I remember. Her petite frame looking even more petite when she is surrounded by her taller friends, even though she is wearing a pair of her ridiculously tall high-heels. She always hated her small stature, especially when I would comment about it. I feel a small smile creeping across my face.

I start to really notice her costume. A 20's style green dress with a beaded headband, with tons of accessories of course, this is Aria we're talking about here. I could really tell she put a lot of time in on her costume. As opposed to me, it takes only a few things I already had and a comb to look like James Dean. My eyes start to linger on her too long. She catches my stare. She looks apprehensive, and then slowly returns a small smile my way. I start to weave my way through to her, when they call for everyone to board the train. She is quickly rushed through the crowd, easily disappearing in the sea of her taller peers.

Time passes quickly with no sign of her. I stop my search to catch some air on the balcony of the train. The cool air clears my head. The passing scenery quiets my nerves. I knew what I had to do. I am not leaving this party tonight without telling her how I feel. This time I will fight for her. I won't give up so easily. You just don't stop caring for someone. I start moving on forward through the train. Each cart filled with people I've never seen before, and some that I have. Cart after cart there was no sign of her. I could probably just text and ask where she is. But she probably wouldn't answer. Things hadn't ended very well that last time he had left town. She didn't owe him anything. She has a boyfriend and her best friends and a life. She is happy. It has been a long time since I've felt that same way.

* * *

The carts get progressively less crowded as I make my way through them. The music starts to fade through the speakers to a bare hum. As I reached the last cart, I see her. She is alone in a corner booth, distracted by her own thoughts as she played with her necklace in her hands mindlessly. She looked different then she had earlier, almost sad.

I approached the table tentatively. I don't want to disturb her. I almost turn away entirely and give up. She seems so peaceful and serene. I gaze at her a little longer. That's when she looks up, clearly startled. Way to go, Jason. What a great way to start this conversation.

"Hey!" She smiles.

"Um.. .hey I didn't mean to bother you.." I say apologetically.

She waves off my apology. "Of course you didn't bother me. I was about ready to fall asleep." She laughed and I swear it's like hearing an angel sing. I can't help but laugh along with her. My laugh sounds far less graceful.

"Come on, take a seat" She suggests. Of course I take it, anything to get closer to her.

"So.. James Dean?" she asks curiously, gesturing to my costume.

"Yes. You like?" I coyly ask.

"Well duh. I've seen "Rebel without a Cause" about a million times. It's one of my favorite movies." I nod. I knew this; she had let it slip in one of late night sessions of 20 questions. It's not like I remembered that when I picked this costume out. Okay, I lied. Of course I did.

"Well your costume isn't too shabby either," I commented.

"Why thank you Mr. Dean. I'm Daisy from "The Great Gatsby. We read the book in English class last year and I just fell in love with her." She babbled on excitedly.

"I think that you look absolutely stunning Ms. Daisy. So.. ugh.. Where is Mr. Gatsby?" I ask awkwardly. It's pretty hard to catch her alone without Ezra. It hurt just to say his name. Why was he so special? It does no good to compare myself to him. It doesn't change anything.

"Oh, he had some ghost writing thing out-of-town. So he canceled on me."

"Well he's missing out." She replies to my remark with a slight blush.

"If you need a replacement Gatsby, you know who to ask." I throw out.

She smiles at me and says," Now why would I want Gatsby when I can have a James Dean?" Now it was my turn to blush, which was easy to see. She smiles widely at my reaction. She always knows what to say to make me react. It's not very hard, everything she does affects me.

"So how have you been Aria?" I asked seriously, changing the tone of the conversation immediately. I could tell she hadn't been sleeping well, as hard as she tried, I can still see the dark rings under her eyes.

"Where do I start?" She says, suddenly sounding exhausted.


	2. Chapter 2

It was not hard to see that she was hiding something. She would avoid my eyes, scanning the train cart over and over, quickly darting from one passenger to the next.

"Looking for anyone?" I suggest softly.

"Um… no." She grabs her phone and with a quick flick, turns the power off. She slides smoothly out of the booth and slinks to her feet.

She straightens out her dress and then looks up at me. Her eyes were suspicious and mistrusting. Had I done something and not realized it? Was it not a few minutes ago that we were playing and joking? I can't help but look at her quizzically.

"Can we go somewhere else?" she asks in a barely audible whisper.

She takes me by surprise, not many people want to be alone near me, at least not anymore. "Of course, Aria. Any place you had in mind?" I whisper back.

"I'm pretty sure there is an empty cart about three carts down. We can talk there without anyone overhearing." I detect a slight hint of fear in her voice. But her face reads otherwise, she might as well have asked me to pass her the newspaper.

"Okay."

She takes the lead and maneuvers through the party goers while I follow her every move. She reaches the door to the cart only for it to be locked. She surprises me when she takes out one of her bobby pins to unlatch the lock.

"I don't believe you learned that in _Girl Scouts." _I state sarcastically.

"You would be surprised; the cookies are just a front." She snaps back.

"If I do recall correctly, you loved those cookies." I laugh.

"Everyone loves those cookies Jason! You would be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't, okay? Let's forget about the cookies, Jeez." Her voice rises with each passing word.

I stand there idling, without saying a word as she continued to mess with the lock. Something is definitely up. She is way too on edge for something NOT to be up.

"Got it!" She stands up from the floor and moves quickly through the door. "Are you coming or not?!"

I answer the best way I can, with a few large steps into a pretty small room. Which was dark, and had the smell of mold. I could see the cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling where no one dared dusted. I can't be positive but I'm pretty sure a spider just passed over the toe of my shoe, or a rat. This room looked like a dungeon in a scary movie, one of the gory ones.

"Are you going to kill me? Because I think you'll have a tough time removing the body." I quip.

"Of course not Jason." Her voice started taking a very serious turn. She stands in the middle of the room fidgeting with her hands and looking down at her wrists.

"What is going on, Aria? Please tell me, you are starting to scare me." I plead.

"Someone has been watching me." She looks up at me for the first time since entering the cart.

"What do you mean "watching you"? Like you have an admirer or you are getting ready to be in a The Police song?" I try not to let my fear show, but I'm definitely worried.

"Both." She whispers.

"What?! Are you okay? When did this start to happen, Aria? Do you know who is doing this to you?" There is no point in trying not to show fear at this point. She can tell from the look in my eyes.

"It started first when I came back from Iceland," she takes a deep breath, "and it has just gotten worse from there..." She looks at me waiting for a response. I nod, edging her to continue.

"I don't know _who_ it is. They send me messages signed "A", and it's not just me. They also are after Spencer, Hanna, and Emily." Shivers run down my spine, they are after the rest of the girls too? Including Spencer?

I shake my head, "Why didn't you tell me this before Aria? Don't you think I could help you? This is serious and you girls could be hurt or worse…dea…" I can't bring myself to say the word dead, it hurts too much. Especially after the trauma of Alison's disappearance.

"That's the thing Jason!" Her voice rising full of anger, "They aren't trying to hurt us! At least not physically, they are trying to go after people we love and care about. The more people we tell the more people that end up getting hurt. I couldn't stand myself if you were to get hurt because of me. That's why I couldn't tell you, Jason!"

"You care about me?" My voice shakes as I let the words out.

"Of course I care about you Jason! Don't be stupid! We wouldn't be in this room right now if I didn't feel I could trust you with this. And it seems all my lies to protect you were in vain."

"What are you talking about Aria?" She pulls her cell phone out of her small bag, powers it on and shows me her last text message.

"_No need to get too attached little Aria, I think we both know how James Dean ended up. –A"_

When I look back from the phone to her, her facial expression had morphed from concern to being terrified. She blinked back the tears and looked straight into my eyes. There were no words needed. She was in danger, and now I was to. It was like we were on the Titanic as it went under. There was little to no hope and now was just a waiting game to see how the rest of the boat goes under.

On pure instinct, I move closer to her. My arms outstretched aching for her to be inside them. She steps forward into an embrace. Her small stature hugged so close to mine with her arms around my waist and her head to my chest. I lean my head down to lay against hers, so lost in the moment that I all I wanted to do was save this girl, and she wanted to save me too. She was my life jacket, and I hers.

The slight shift of light breaks our embrace. There is something lying near the door of the cart. I move slowly away from the petite brunette to investigate.

There lay a sheet of college ruled paper, and in blood red ink there was written:

"_Oh so you have a partner now? Might as well kill two birds with one stone.-A"_

I lay the paper down, as I do, the room goes pitch black and all I hear is a piercing shriek.


End file.
